Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an anime television series created by Sunrise. Directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, both of whom had earlier worked on the series Planetes, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion features original character designs by Clamp.

The first season of the series premiered across Japan on MBS from October 5, 2006, and concluded its run on July 28, 2007, after running for 25 episodes. A second season and sequel to the series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2 ,Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Rurūshu Āru Tsū?), premiered on MBS and TBS on April 6, 2008 and concluded on September 28, 2008. Both seasons have won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Animage Anime Grand Prix, and Animation Kobe event.

Both seasons of Code Geass have been licensed for release in the United States and Canada by Bandai Entertainment, and the first season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in the U.S. on April 27, 2008; the second began airing on November 2, immediately following the first season. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is licensed by Madman Entertainment, and began airing on Australian channel ABC2 from January 19, 2009.

On August 10, 2010, a.t.b., the Holy Empire of Britannia overpowered Japanese forces and conquered the country with their new, powerful, robotic weapons, the Knightmare Frames, in less than a month. In the aftermath of Britannia's invasion, Japan lost its freedom, its rights, and even its name, becoming Area 11 of the Britannian Empire. The Japanese people, renamed as "Elevens", are forced to survive in poor neighborhoods, while Britannians live in first-class settlements. Rebel elements persist, however, as pockets of Japanese organizations struggle against the Empire for the independence of Japan.

After his father, the Emperor of Britannia, failed to prevent the assassination of his mother, an attack which also left his sister blind and crippled, the young prince Lelouch vowed to destroy Britannia. Seven years later, he accidentally becomes mixed up with "terrorists" in Area 11 and encounters a mysterious girl named C.C., who gives him the power of Geass. With it, he finally has the power that he needs to defeat Britannia and fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

Lelouch LamperougeThe title character and protagonist of the show, Lelouch Lamperouge is seemingly an ordinary 17-year-old student at the Ashford Academy. In reality, he is the son of the Emperor of Britannia and the late Empress Marianne. His real name is Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince of the Britannian Empire prior to his mother's assassination. When he gets caught up in a battle between the military and Japanese rebels, he gains the power of Geass, which forces others to obey his orders without question. With this power, he begins his quest to destroy Britannia under the alias of Zero.

Suzaku KururugiLelouch's childhood friend and son of Japan's last prime minister, Suzaku is in the service of the Britannia Army as a soldier, and was chosen to test an experimental new model of Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot. Suzaku believes achieving results by wrong or illegal methods is meaningless and does not approve of Zero's actions.

C.C.A mysterious green-haired girl who bestows the power of Geass upon Lelouch under the condition that he grant her greatest wish. C.C.'s abilities caught the interest of Britannia and she was imprisoned as a part of Britannia's experiments in the past. She passively oversees Lelouch's missions to ensure that he does not die and to help his plans succeed.

Nunnally LamperougeNunnally is Lelouch's younger sister, who is wheelchair-bound due to bullet wounds on her legs, as well as blind due to psychological trauma from witnessing the brutal assassination of her mother. Her blindness is later found to be afflicted by her Father, Charles using his Geass of memory manipulation. In the end, she countered the Geass and has been able to see, but her muscles have wasted away after seven years of being unused, thus, losing her ability to walk upright again.

Kallen StadtfeldKallen is a Britannian-Japanese girl who believes herself to be a Japanese person at heart and prefers to be known by her birth name, Kallen Kōzuki. Her father is Britannian and her mother is an Eleven; her father comes from a prestigious Britannian family and as such she attends the Ashford Academy, where she is a member of its student council and is one of its most outstanding students. Though she maintains a frail-girl image at school, she is a member of a Japanese resistance cell.